undonewithout

late August, 2025:

She turns to leave and stops, abrupt, before she even understands what caught her attention.

A flash of familiar magenta.

Her heart in her throat, she turns her head, eyes widening with delight and relief. "Mira! Mira, Mira, oh my god," she cries out, dashing over to throw her arms around her friend. "What are you doing here? When did you get here? Is Zoey with you?"

Two-thirds of Huntr/x reunite.

[ HERE | complete | nothing, just babies ]

Rumi has a list of things that are weirdest about being in Darrow. It's not ordered, because the only things she can decide for certain is that just being here at all is the weirdest part, but it is written down in the journal she keeps hidden in the back of her nightstand drawer even though there's no one who's going to rifle through her things and read her secrets. Writing is just part of the process of, well, exorcising her demons, so to speak. She's got a lot going on in her head. For a long time, she was scared even to write it down and acknowledge what she is, terrified Mira or Zoey might find it and learn the truth. Getting it out of her head and on the page was the only source of relief she had for years, that and performing.

So she's written it down, scattered in margins, along with snippets of future lyrics. It's impossible to choose what is second weirdest, though. Is it a) no longer hiding her patterns from Mira, which means they're also visible to the select few who can see such things? There don't seem to be many of those here, but there are certainly some, and it's unsettling. Rumi's been telling herself she's getting used to this, that she's okay with letting them show, but somehow letting them be seen throws her whenever it happens with anyone but Mira (which is still taking getting used to anyway). Or is it b) being on a hunter hiatus? The Honmoon feels... present, but distant, not at all the same, not as strong, and she doesn't know if that's because they're in a different world or if it's something she needs to fix. There is always something Rumi needs to fix.

Maybe it's c) not being an idol. Before Darrow interrupted her vacation, Rumi hadn't had an actual break since... well, probably since pre-debut. It's not even that she didn't have the option, she just never really took it. Nothing could have been more important than sealing the Honmoon, and being a hunter was inextricable from being an idol. And being an idol meant constant work — dance practices and songwriting and recording sessions, fansigns and calls, tours, music shows, and on and on, and she'd loved every moment and she'd exhausted herself until she couldn't think about the thousand things she didn't want to think about, that she couldn't stop thinking about. Being an idol meant variety shows, but not reality, because Celine never wanted them to have one of those — how could they fight or train with a camera crew behind them while they ride ATVs or go swimming or whatever the other idols are doing these days? Being an idol meant early days and late nights, not waking up at noon and feeling like she must be late for schedules she doesn't have.

It makes her feel sort of guilty, like she's slacking off. She's really not good at not working. On days like that, she grabs her guitar and spends an hour on the boardwalk or at Petros Park, just to be doing something. There's a dance studio she's been frequenting, too, to stay in shape and to have somewhere to practice that won't end in her upsetting her neighbors.

"Maybe I need a job," she muses aloud. Getting one would feel like defeat, though, admitting she's stuck. Plus she's never actually had a job that wasn't performing. The closest she's ever gotten was an episode of Workdol where she had to run the cash register at a bakery. Real life feels... weird.

It also doesn't feel very real. She stops outside a Halloween supply store, guitar case strapped against her back, and looks at the costumes on display in the window. "'Undead Pop Star,'" she reads aloud, voice dry. "Oh, 'Vampire Politician,' yes, wow, a costume every child would want. Wow. Is this place real?" Maybe she's having a very early midlife crisis. Maybe she's gone insane. It's really hard to be sure sometimes.

[ Relaxation stresses Rumi out. Come say hi again or meet her! It's as good a time as ever, and she could use friends. Open until this says otherwise. ]